Yorie Kahl’s Fight for Freedom

By Victor Thorn

“Yorie Kahl is an innocent man, and he’s going to spend the rest of his life in prison if we don’t do something to help him.” Willis Carto, founder of Liberty Lobby as well as a consultant for AMERICAN FREE PRESS and publisher of its predecessor, The Spotlight, made this remark before establishing a Yorie Kahl Defense Fund.

AFP had intended to conduct an interview with Kahl, but after submitting a written application to Indiana’s Terre Haute U.S. Penitentiary, administrator Marvin Pitt denied our request for a private telephone conversation because of “security reasons.”

Carto wasn’t surprised. “That’s the typical mindset of a bureaucrat,” Carto commented, “but it won’t stop us from telling Yorie’s story. The authorities always viewed his father Gordon as a mortal threat.”

Federal officials felt so much animosity toward tax protester and separatist
Gordon Kahl that on Feb. 13, 1983, U.S. Marshals setup a roadblock outside Medina, N.D., where they ambushed Gordon, Joan and Yorie Kahl, in addition to Scott Faul.

Initiated by federal marshals Ken Muir and Bob Cheshire, the Kahls were stopped by a throng of men who were swearing and laughing maniacally while yelling, “Freeze [expletive], you’re all going to die. We’re going to blow your God**** heads off.”

Prior to these menacing threats, power-mad Muir commanded his men to remove their badges. These illustrious examples of law and order also failed to identify themselves as federal agents, none wore law enforcement uniforms and not a single vehicle bore noticeable police insignias. Lastly, even though a fake all points bulletin had been issued against Gordon Kahl, the lawmen never gave him a chance to peacefully surrender.

Instead, gunfire soon emanated from the marshals, with Muir’s first shot striking Yorie. Miraculously, the bullet struck Yorie’s shoulder holster, lodging in the pistol grip of a gun he carried. Had he not been armed, the bullet would have pierced his heart and instantly killed him.

As Yorie struggled to stay on his feet, Dep. Sheriff Brad Kapp shot him again with a shotgun blast. Muir then fired three more times, repeatedly striking Yorie. As he fell, Kahl’s involuntary reaction caused him to fire a shot into the air. This inadvertent discharge didn’t wound anyone.

Acting in self-defense while trying to protect his family, Gordon Kahl—a WWII veteran—opened fire on the assailants. When the gun battle ended, two U.S. marshals lay dead, while one marshal and two local policemen were wounded.

Meanwhile, Yorie went into hemorrhagic shock, suffering from life-threatening damage to his abdomen and internal organs. Later, as he suffered in a nearby hospital, law enforcement officials arrested his mother, Joan, who awaited Yorie during his surgery. Although Mrs. Kahl never touched a weapon during the shootout, she was charged with murder and slapped with a gag order.

By his own admission, the only person to kill anyone during this melee was Gordon Kahl, who proceeded to escape and go on the run. Ironically, only minutes before the onslaught, Yorie—sensing a setup—felt such loyalty to his father that he urged Gordon to switch jackets and caps with him. Due to this selfless act, Yorie became the primary target that day.

After commencing the largest manhunt in American history, U.S. marshals and FBI agents located Kahl’s farmhouse and proceeded to riddle it with thousands of rounds of gunfire and more than two dozen tear gas canisters. Although these lawless lawmen knew Kahl wasn’t home at the time, an FBI agent deliberately shot Kahl’s dog because it barked.

While the search for Gordon continued, Yorie and Faul were convicted on May 28, 1983 in a Fargo courtroom of second-degree murder and other offenses. They each received two life sentences plus 15 years. Later, juror Marlys Klimek signed an affidavit stating U.S. marshals had unduly influenced jurors to obtain a guilty verdict.

Medina Police Chief Darrell Graf later wrote in It’s All About Power that he personally witnessed an argument at his desk between FBI agents and U.S. Marshals as to who would kill Gordon Kahl. No option existed to take him alive because if Kahl ever had an opportunity to testify in court about the truthful facts in Yorie’s case, the outcome and convictions of this trumped-up trial would be jeopardized.

After a snitch notified authorities on Kahl’s whereabouts near Smithville, Ark., a dragnet swooped in on June 3, 1983. Deputy U.S. Marshal Jim Hall and two others entered a farmhouse where Kahl was eating dinner.

Without any announcement, nor any attempt to serve arrest papers, Hall fired a bullet at point-blank range into the back of Kahl’s skull.

As Kahl lay dead, unknown persons cut off his hands and feet to prevent identification, then placed a mattress over his corpse and soaked it with an accelerant. Kahl’s body was then set on fire as crazed FBI agents riddled the farmhouse with thousands of rounds of gunfire and tear gas canisters.

To further destroy evidence, FBI agent Jim King ordered his men to pour gasoline down the house’s vent pipes and incinerate it. No crime scene photos were ever taken, while Bill Clinton’s favorite body count cover-up artist, Arkansas Medical Examiner Dr. Fahmy Malak, lied about who fired a bullet into Kahl’s head.

Why was it so necessary to murder Kahl? As Carto told this writer on Dec. 22, “Gordon attended one of our meetings years ago. He was more knowledgeable of the overall situation than most people. He had an in-depth understanding of what was going on in this country.”

In Bitter Harvest, author James Corcoran provided a glimpse of the truths that Kahl uncovered. In Kahl’s judgment: “The CIA, U.S. Marshal Service, FBI, Secret Service and all but the smallest police departments were under the influence of the Mossad.”

Nearly 30 years later, one of this nation’s greatest miscarriages of justice keeps Yorie Kahl and Scott Faul imprisoned and silenced.

You Can Help Yorie Kahl With His Legal Fees

At age 63, Gordon Kahl knew he was a marked man. U.S. Marshal Bud Warren as much as told him so. After Warren stepped down, an overzealous Ken Muir became chief marshal of the Fargo, N.D., U.S. Marshals Office. On Feb. 13, 1983, Muir and his deputy marshals went gunning for Kahl. The events that followed have been much discussed by patriots and pundits alike, but here is the story as told by Gordon Kahl in his own words.

The Final Affidavit of Gordon Kahl is a four-page special report from AFP that tells the whole Kahl saga and also contains Gordon’s final statement, found hidden in the chicken coop of his friend. Send $2 each for 1-5 copies to AFP, 645 Pennsylvania Avenue SE, #100, Washington, D.C. 20003. (Call 202-544-5977 for more than 5 copies.) ALL PROCEEDS will be donated to the Yorie Kahl defense fund. Please send checks or money orders made out to Mrs. Joan Kahl, 201 Spruce Avenue South, Fessenden, ND 58438

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